Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time WorkReady WorkReady The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD Legislative Council WorkReady The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills questions regarding the government's WorkReady program. Leave granted. The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD Legislative Council The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Further to my previous questions regarding private training, redundancies and unemployment under the new WorkReady program, I have had representations from key stakeholders in the industry, and the issues that they have raised with me have been quite concerning. I would like to ask some questions of the minister: 1.	How many training accounts does TAFE SA currently have for superseded qualifications and what is the policy behind this? 2.	How many notices to close training accounts have been issued by the Department for State Development and/or Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology to TAFE SA in the last 24 months? How many notices were complied with? I understand the minister will probably have to take that one on notice. 3.	Did the minister or her department or TAFE SA approve an increase in advertising for TAFE SA in the two months leading up to the release of the minister's policy? The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions. Indeed, we are very pleased, this being the second day that WorkReady has been operational. As we know, it was a reform to our VET training system that focused our efforts much more tightly on employment outcomes and a much closer connection with industry. It also has a much higher focus on completion rates and it is a system that we were very pleased to roll out. I have spoken in this place before about a number of unfortunate issues that have occurred in terms of the 2015-16 financial year and some of the challenges that we face throughout that particular year, particularly the high levels of pipeline or current enrolments and the impact that that is having on the system generally. In relation to the first two questions, I will need to take those on notice and bring back a response. I do not have that level of detailed information with me. In terms of advertising, that is a matter for TAFE. I am not aware that they need any approval or to seek approval in terms of their rate of advertising. I know that their material comes through my office because it comes through the central communication, but how much they individually spend on it and the rate that advertising is conducted at any one time is really a matter for TAFE. It is a question of whether I knew what level TAFE undertook— The Hon. D.G.E. Hood Legislative Council The Hon. D.G.E. Hood: Well, it was both. The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council The Hon. G.E. GAGO: As I said, I am not aware of any approval that was sought of me and, as I said in terms of the rate of advertising, he would need to ask those questions directly of TAFE.